July 31-August 8, 2015Oklahoma City

Cutting

When the thunder rolls.

by Christine HamiltonThe American Quarter Horse Journal

Kyle Farris had a brief moment of panic in his go in the cutting prelims August 11 aboard Bingos Mate. It was raining outside the Oklahoma State Fair Park Coliseum – a brief respite in the drought the area has been experiencing.

“I was cutting my third cow and knew I had a good run going,” Kyle recalled, “and thunder hit, and the cow jumped up in the air! And then I thought I lost it, but it was actually very good, and I ended up making it back.”

“I was (pretty confident coming into the finals). This is my grandpa’s (Jimmy Farris) mare. He let me ride her, and thank goodness he let me ride her. I knew if I didn’t make any mistakes, I knew she’d be good. I knew what I had to do (going last). I knew all the scores. Last can be good or bad, depending. The cows can be bad, but this time they were really good.”

When Kyle rode in, Whitt Bell and Mixmeastrawberrylena were the pair to beat. Whitt is a multiple youth cutting finals qualifier and won the reserve youth cutting world championship in 2008 on Bald Face Liar.

“My dad (trainer Mitch Farris) actually had … two cows picked out,” Kyle said. “The first cow I cut was one he said (to pick). It was a rerun, and he told me to go ahead and cut it again, and it worked very well. And the other two, my cows stayed on the back fence, so I had to go and cut shape, and they ended up working out.”

Kyle scored a 218.5 for the win; Whitt won the reserve with a 218.

Bingos Mate is a 2003 mare by Smart Mate and out of Bobbie Gay Bingo by Bingo Hickory, bred by Jo Goertz of Hamilton, Texas. She has more than $30,000 in National Cutting Horse Association earnings. Jimmy Farris rode her to the 2010 Select year-end high-point in cutting.

“My grandpa’s in the top 15 right now on her in NCHA, in the $15,000,” Kyle said. “Actually, I brought my mare to (the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo) and this mare to Houston and ended up bombing out on my mare and winning it on his mare. And he told me, why don’t we go up (to the Ford Youth World) and show her?

“I’d shown her three times, once at Houston, once at a weekend show and then the go-round here, and the finals was the fourth time I’ve shown her. I’m very blessed that he let me ride her. I have the best grandparents in the world.”

Kyle comes from a Quarter Horse family – dad, Mitch, is in the NCHA Non-Pro Hall of Fame but has been training professionally for several years. His grandfather, Jimmy, is a 40-year cumulative AQHA breeder.

“I was blessed (to win)," Kyle said. "I thank God. He was with me the whole time. I’m very confident, and I’m glad. I thank all my family, friends, everyone, for being here, for who I am today. I’m thankful for my dad helping me my whole life and my grandparents, I couldn’t have done it without them."

It’s Kyle’s first appearance at the Ford Youth World. Right now, he plans on returning in 2012, his last year of youth eligibility.

As for the mare? “I’m going to try to take her from my Grandpa!” he said and laughed. “We’ll probably do some weekend stuff, I’m not sure yet. We’ll just go day by day.”

Kyle Farris of Midway, Texas, and Bingos Mate win the 2011 youth world championship in cutting.